How are my AP scores - especially for UCs?

So AP scores came out today! I’m a rising senior and took 4 tests my sophomore year and 6 junior year. (Took 7 APs junior year but didn’t take the Art History exam.) I received the following scores - how would you say they are for schools like UCLA, Berkeley, and UCSD?

Psychology - 5
Calculus AB - 5
Calculus BC - 5 (and 5 AB subscore)
English Language - 5
Biology - 4
Chemistry - 4
World History - 4
US History - 4
Physics 2 - 3
Physics 1 - 2 (not reporting lol)

I also think I’ll receive the national AP scholar award, if that means anything. Any input would be appreciated - thank you!

Yes you will get the national AP scholar award.

Colleges do not give a poop about your AP scores. In fact, they are happy they are low since they can charge you more. Are these self studies? If so, you should send them in as a supplement to your application. If you took the classes and got As and Bs in those, there is no real reason to report these APs. On the other hand if your grades in the classes are not As and Bs then definitely report these scores.

On the other hand it is a great achievement that you are national ap scholar as a junior. Definitely include this on your app.

It’s great that you will be able to list at least one national award on the application. That always looks good.

The UC’s give credit for any AP exam on which you score a 3 or higher. It pays off in two ways:

  1. It helps you get credit for some of the general ed requirements, so you don’t have to take those classes in college. You can graduate earlier, double major easier, take more upper level courses or even some graduate level courses as an undergraduate. Each school differs in which courses they accept so you need to check their website.

  2. At UC Berkeley, it allows you to have priority enrollment. Freshman students with lots of AP credit can enter UC Berkeley with enough units to register for classes at the same time as most sophomores. It gives you a real advantage in choosing better class time and getting into a class before it fills up. Unfortunately, UCLA ended this last year and there is a real push to end it at Berkeley, since it is seen as an unfair advantage to students whose high school offers more AP courses.

@1650mile @Yomama12 thank you both for the responses! It is good to know that these tests will pay off :slight_smile: would you say these are respectable scores, outstanding the physics scores? The rest are all 4s/5s.

They are great scores. At the CSU’s, which accept more AP credit for general Ed courses, you could graduate at least a semester earlier.

And it shows the schools that you are capable of doing college level work.

@Yomama12 Great!! Thanks :slight_smile: